December 7 (Reuters) – A third Russian airfield was hit by a drone attack, a day after Ukraine demonstrated new capabilities to penetrate hundreds of kilometers into Russia with attacks on on two air bases.
Officials in the Russian city of Kursk, about 90 km (60 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, released pictures of black smoke rising above the airport after the strike. new on Sunday. The governor said that an oil storage tank had gone up but there were no casualties.
On Monday, Russia said it had struck hundreds of kilometers from Ukraine by what it said were Soviet-era drones – at Engels air base, home to Russia’s strategic bomber fleet, and Ryazan, a few hours drive from Moscow.
Ukraine has not directly claimed responsibility for the strikes but they have even acknowledged it.
At the end of Friday, screams were heard in the area of the airport in Engels, Russian state news agencies said, Yevgeny Shpolsky, the first commander of the Engels regional office, said.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his country’s commitment to providing Ukraine with the tools to defend itself, saying that it did not encourage or encourage Ukrainians to attack in Russia.
Russia’s defense ministry said three service members were killed in the attack in Ryazan. Although the attacks were against military targets, it was described as terrorism and said the aim was to destroy its long-range aircraft.
Ukraine has never publicly acknowledged the attacks in Russia. When asked about weapons, Defense Minister Oleskiy Reznikov repeated a long-standing joke about not being careful with cigarettes. “Russians often smoke in places where smoking is not allowed,” he said.
The destruction of the planes caused complaints among Russian military journalists, whose social media posts could reveal Russia’s attitude during the war.
‘WORK AND POWER’
More than 20 oil tankers queuing from Turkey face further delays in crossing from Russian Black Sea ports to the Pacific as operators scramble to adhere to new Turkish insurance rules added ahead of G7 tariffs on Russian oil, industry sources said.
The crisis in tankers is not a result of the price hike on Russian oil agreed by the coalition of G7 countries and Australia, a group official said.
The price of $60 a barrel was set on Monday above the current price for Urals crude from Russia, the world’s second largest oil consumer.
G7 countries and Australia are busy in the coming weeks to decide on two more price levels for Russian crude oil products scheduled for February 5, a US Treasury official said. to Reuters.
“I think the point is that we have all the power and control now that we’ve been able to set the ceiling at $60,” the official said. “Reforms that will benefit the G7 and benefit Ukraine, will benefit the world economy, will not benefit Russia.”
ZELENSKIY AND THE SOLDIERS
Meanwhile on the battlefields of eastern, north-eastern and southern Ukraine, Russian forces continue to shell towns and villages, the Ukrainian military said in the end of Sunday.
Six people were killed when Donetsk came under rocket and artillery fire, the Russian city’s mayor, Alexander Kulemzin, said in his Telegram channel.
“Look at what they did,” said a resident named Irina, pointing to the apartment building where her father was destroyed. “There are people living there. People! Where are you shooting? Go into the fields and fight each other, not here. How many people are dead.”
Dmytro Zhyvytsky, the governor of the Sumy region in the Russian border, said that many people were wounded when the Russian army fired 226 bullets into seven communities during the day.
War crimes investigators are looking into the deaths of hundreds of civilians since the start of the nearly 10-month conflict. Russia denies targeting civilians during what it calls a special operation to rid Ukraine of hostile citizens.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited troops near the front lines in eastern Ukraine on Sunday.
Speaking to the soldiers after the presidential palace in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said that he had spent the day with the soldiers in Donbas, the theater of the most intense battles, and in the Kharkiv region, where The Ukrainians also took over the territory of the Russian army.
“Thousands of Ukrainians have given their lives so that the day will come when not a single soldier will be in our country and all our people will be free,” Zelenskiy, dressed in his signature green khaki, told the rally. .
Reuters bureaux reports; Written by Grant McCool; Edited by Cynthia Osterman
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